03/20/19 03/20/19 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from pacifica, this is democracy nonow! >> in conclusion, may i say the brazil and the united states stand side-by-side in their efforts to ensure liberties in respect to traraditional family lifestyles, respect to god our creator, against gender and ideology,y correct and take news.

amy: jair bolsonaro mixes for stripped to the white house where he was warmly received by president trump. pres. trump: you look at the networks, you look at the news, the newscast -- i collect fake news. i am proud to hear the president use the term "fake news." amy: trump vows to strengthen economic and military as they discuss regime change in venezuela to topple nicolas maduro. we will get the latest. that would look at thehe torture machine, racismsm and policee violence i in chicago. accccept torture.e. until all people who torture and all those people who are responsible for torturing are brought to justice, the conscience of chicago and t this country cannot be cleansed. amy: we will speech a longtime civil rights attorney flint taylor of the people's law office in chicago about his new book "the torture machine." we will speak with rutgegers professor lilia fernandez.

all of that in more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president trump hosted brazil's far-right president jair bolsonaro at the white house on tuesday. bolsonaro has been dubbed the trump of the tropics. trump announced he would designate brazil to be a major non-nato ally, opening the door for brazil to receive more u u.. militatary aid.. trump also suggested brazil could even become a member of nato. the two leaders both criticized what they called the fake news and discussed increasing efforts to topple venezuelan president nicolas maduro from office. president trump threatened to further intensify crippling u.s. engines on venezuela, which is already facing a humanitarian crisis. prpres. trumump: we really not e done the tough sanctions yet. all options are open, so we may be doing that. but we have not been the toughest sanctions. amy: we will have more on brazil after headlines.

in a major blow for immigrant rights, the supreme court ruled the government can detain immigrants with past criminal records indefinitely and without due process, even decades after their convictions. the 5-4 ruling tuesday in favor of the government centers around a 1996 law that allows immigration officials to take immigrants into custody after they are released from jail, but without specifying a time frame. the aclu, which brought the case on behalf of a group of immigrants affected by the law said -- , "the supreme court has endorsed the most extreme interpretation of immigration detention statutes, allowing mass incarceration of people without any hearing, simply because they are defending themselves against a deportation charge. we will continue to fight the gross overuse of detention in the immigration system." a 40-yeaear-old mexican migranat died in el paso, texas, while in the custody of customs and border protection monday. officials say the unnamed man was brought in for medical care and diagnosed with flu-like symptoms, liver and renal failure. he died just one day after he

was apprehended by border control. he is the fourth known migrant to die in recent months while in government custody. in more immigration news, asylum seekers who were sent back to mexico by the trump administration while they awaited legal proceedings, returned to the u.s. tuesday for their first hearings. lawyers for the migrants are requesting their clients be allowed to remain in the u.s. while their cases proceed. this is attorney robyn barnard from the group human rights first. >> we have evidence about the dangers asylum seekers and .efugees face in mexico we plan to present that to the judge and to the government today to say that is the reason why they should not be sent back , to fight their case from tijuana. amy: according to u.s. officials, around 240 migrants who entered the u.s. since late january have been sent back to mexico as their asylum requests are processed. a new report by amnesty international released tuesday found u.s. airstrikes have killed 14 civilians in somalia since 2017, despite government officials maintaining there have

been no civilian casualties. u.s. air raids in somalia have steadily increased since trump came to office and authorized the use of targeted strikes against suspected al-shabab militants. according to the think tank new amamerica, at least 252 people have been killed in around two dozen u.s. airstrikes in somalia so far this year. the airstrikes could amount to violations of international humanitarian law and even constitute war crimes, according to amnesty international. at least 10 mimigrants traveling by boat died tuesday after their vessel sank off the libyan coast. at least one baby was among the dead according to libyan offificials. 17 peoeople were resescued.. the e migrants came from variois nations, including sudan and bangladesh. this is one of the survivors of the shipwreck. offe arrived in the middle the water. the e captain said we can't continue. the waves hit us. two children died. newborn babies. my leg broke. girls with broken legs, pregnant

women were stuck in the water. amy: israeli forces shot and killed a palestinian man they suspected of carrying out an attack in the occupied west bank on sunday, which resulted in the killing of an israeli soldier and a rabbi. in a s separate incidedentn n te west bank tuesday, israeli forces shot and killed another two palestinian men at a holy site near the city of nablus. israeli soldiers say the 2 men threw explosives from a car. there are no known injuries from the alleged explosives attack. in egypt, the top media regulator is imposing new restrictions on certain websites and social media pages that are designated as threats to national security. the rule would apply to social media accounts that have over 5000 followers and allow the government block access to the sites for posting so-called "fake news," and fine them up to $15,000 without a court order. journalists and press freedom advocates have condemned the move, which they say is just the latest effort by the government of president abdel-fattah el-sisi to silence critics. reporters without borders has called egypt "one of the world's biggest prisons for journalists."

meanwhile in russisia, president vladimir putin signed twtwo new laws mondain w what critics sasy is a ramp-p-up of state censorship. the laws target so-called fake news and criticism of public officials and impose penalties on individuals and groups that disrespect the state, including hefty fines and blocking the sites. individuals are also subject to imprisonment for certain offenses. in colombia, two more community leaders have been killed over the past week. alfonso correa was an environmentalist and member of the local peasants' association and local leader argemiro lopez who fought for replacing illegal crops. the killings are the latest in a spate of activist murders in colombia. back in the u.s., president trump nominated former delta executive and pilot steve dickson to lead the federal aviation administration. the agency has not had a permanent head in over a year. trump had wanted to nominate his personal pilot john dunkin but he faced scrutiny over his lack of qualifications. dickson's nomination comes as investigators are looking into

the approval and development of boeing 737 max 8 jetliners in the wake of two fatal crashes -- last week's ethiopian airlines flight 302 and october's lion air flight 610 in inindonesia. both crashes killed all crew and passengers on board and were found to have clear similarities based on early data. reports are emerging the lion air flight almost went down the day before the deadly accident but an off-duty pilot was on board and knew to turn off the autopilot mode, which was likely pushing the nose of the plane down. on tuesdaytransportatation secrcretary elaine chao orderedn audit of the certification process for boeing's 737 max 8 aircraft. in texas, a massive fire at a petrochemical storage terminal in deer park, near houston, has reportedly been extinguished in the early hours of wednesday morning after raging since

sunday, rereleasing a thick plue of smoke that blanketed large swaths of the surrounding area. nearby schools were closed earlier this week and residents were advised to limit outside exposure. bryan parras of the sierra club said -- "we are living through an ongoing petrochemical disaster, and the government response is that the poison we can smell and taste for ourselves isn't harming our health and our children. officials need to be honest with the public. itc needs to be held accountable and the regional public officials need to take a serious look at the chemical disaster risk that exists along the houston ship channel and prioritize the health and well being of surrounding communities." the chairman and ceo of warner brothers, kevin tsujihara, resigned earlier this week after he was alleged to have used his position to get acting roles for a woman he was having an affair with. tsujihara had been recently promoted to oversee children's programming at warner media, despite apparent knowledge of his affair with an actress who worked for his studio.

at&t acquired warner media last year for $85 billion. west virginia's attorney general filed a lawsuit against the state's roman catholic diocese and a former high-ranking bishop for "knowingly employ tuesday pedophiles." west virginia is accusing the church of violating a consumer protection law by failing to conduct proper background checks on new hires that would be in contact with children at schools and camps, and for covering up sexual abuse. by citing consumer protection, the case will be civil rather than criminal, which legal experts say could be more successful due to strict statutes of limitations on sexual crimes. meanwhile, a catholic diocese in mississippi has released a list of 37 clergy it believes are guilty of sexual crimes against minors. the cases date back to 1939 and include chchildren as young as five. in more news about the catholic church, pope francis has rejected the resignation of french cardinal philippe barbarin, who was found guilty of failing to report allegations

of sexual abuse against boy scouts in his diocese the 1980's and 1990's. barbarin will instead temporarily step aside. a san francisco jury found that monsanto's roundup herbicide was a substantial factor in the cancer of california resident edwin hardeman. the federal case could have implications for hundrdreds of others accccusing the e companyf mamaking them sick. hahardeman says he sprayed the widely used herbicide on his property for almost decades and three once got the product directly o on his skinin. he has been n diagnosed with non-hodgkin's lymphoma. the jury will now consider damages owed by bayer, which owns monsanto. in august last year, a state jury awarded a former school groundskeeper nearly $300 million in damages after monsanto's roundup was found to be responsible for his cancer, though the amount was later reduced to $78 million. in reproductive rights news, mississippi senators have passed the controversial, highly restrictive so-called fetal heartbeat law, which bans abortions once a fetal heartbeat

can be detected -- something that typically happens just six weeks into a pregnancy and before many women even realize they're pregnant. the bill now heads to the desk of republican governor phil bryant, who has vowed to sign it. in new jersey, faculty at rutgers university have authorized union leaders to call for a strike as ongoing contract negotiations have failed to reach an agreement. union members are demanding more full-time faculty, equal pay for women staff, increased staff diversity, job protection for librarians, and a salary raise for teaching assistants. if the union does decide to strike, it would be a first for faculty and graduate employees in the school's 253-year history. immigrant rights activist patricia okoumou, who was arrested last yearar after scalg the ststatue of libeberty torott family separations, , was sentenced to f five years of probobation and d 200 hours of community service. okoumou arrived at the new york city court where she was greeted by supporters. she taped her mouth and other parts of her face before entering the courthouse for her ruling. okoumou has vowed to continue

her activism and protests against trump's immigration policies. and the renowned ninigerian art curator okwui enwezor has died at age 55 after a battle with cancer. enwezor was the director of the haus der kunst museum in munich, germany, until last year. he was also an art critic, educator, editor, and writer. he worked to put african art and artists center stage. in 1994, he founded nka, a magazine for contemporary african art. his exhibit "the short century," celebrating african art and independence movements, was hailed as a landmark exhibition. enwezor was the first african-born chief curator of the venice biennale and was widely credited for bringing political art back to the prestigious festival. democracy now! spoke to okwui enwezor in venicice in 2015. >> many, many different ways, and i think it is both in a large and small ways that one can begin to see the utility of

art, not as something to be appropriated as propaganda or for ideological purpososes, but art as a leaearning tool, as a teaching tool and also as a way for the public to learn how to expand their view of the world. amy: that was okwui enwezor, who died friday at the age of 55 in munich, germany. to see our interview with them, you can go to democracynow.org. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. juan: and i'm juan gonzalez. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. we begin today's show looking at president trump's meeting tuesday with brazil's far-right president jair bolsonaro at the white house. pres. t trump: i also know we ae going to have a fantastic working relationship. we have many views that are

similar. and we certainly feel very, very true to each other on trade. i think brazil's relationship with the united states, becauaue of ourur friendship, is probably betttter than it is ever been by far. juan: tuesday's meeting marked jair bolsonaro's first trip to washington since he was sworn in as brazil's president in january. someme have described bolsonaros the trumof t the tropipics. the e former military officer hs praised brazil's former military dictatorship, which ended 33 years ago. he has spoken in favor of torture and threatened to destroy, imprison, or banish his political oppoponents. human rights groups have expressed alarm over his past comments about women and the lgbt community. he once told a female lawmaker she was too ugly to rape. he also said he would rather hear his son died in a car crash than learn that his son is gay. amy: bolsonaro's election last year was aided in part by the jailing of his chief opponent former brazilian president luiz , inacio lula da silva.

the judge involved in lula's case is nonow bolsonaro's justie minister. at the white house, bolsonaro defended what he called traditional family v values and attacked the news media. >> in conclusion, may i say brazil and the united states stand side-by-side in their efforts to ensure liberties and respect traditional family lifestyles, respect to god our creator against gender ideology or pololitically incorrect attitudes, and against fake news. amy: moments later, president trump praised bolsonaro's use of the phrase "fake news." pres. trump: you look at the networks, you look at the news, newscasts -- i call it fake news. i'm very proud to hear that president used the term "fake news." juan: during his remarksks at te white house, preresident trump vowed to strengthen economic and military ties with brazil. pres. trump: as i told president bolsonaro, i also intend to designate brazil as a major

non-nato ally or even possibly, if you start thinking about it, maybe a nato ally -- have to talk to a lot of people, butut maybe a nato ally, which will greatly advance security and cooperation between our countries. amy: the two leaders also discussed venezuela and their ongoing efforts to topple the government of president nicholas maduro. president trump threatened to increase sanctions on venezuela which is already facing a humanitarian crisis. pres. trump: but we realllly hae not done the really tough sanctions yet. all options s are open, so we my be doing that. but we have not done the toughest of sanctions, as you know. amy: to talk more about u.s.-brazil relations, we are joined by maria luisa mendonca, director of the network for social justice and human rights in brazil. she is a visiting scholar at the city university of new york graduate center. welcome back to democracy now! it is great to have you with us. the significance of the meeting yesterday, bolsonaro's first as president, the former army captain coming to meet withh trump, and what came out of it? brazilink, basically,

gave out many things and did not receive anything back. promisedle, bolsonaro now u.s. citizens will not need a visa to travel to brazil anymore. and that won't be the case for brazilians coming to the u.s., which is a big change in foreign-policy. ofzil has a history reciprocity in his foreign -- it is part of the brazilian diplomacy. also, , brazilian diplomacy hasa history of resolving conflicts through a peaceful process of negotiation. in the discourse aboutut venezua is very different than how brazil has dealt with the conflict in the region historically.

venezuela is being used as an external enemy and latin american countries as a way to help elect far right politicical leaders. that was the case of bolsonaro in brazil and also colombia. that is very dangerous because a war in venezuela will have catastrophic consequences in the region. another issue they both talked about, looking at venezuela as a country that needs humanitarian aid. but that does not make any sense. for example, presidentnt maduro offered to buy agricultural products from brazil, so they don't need aid from brazil. also, venezuela is a very strategic partner for brazil because brazil exports

industrial products to venezuela. so even from a pragmatic perspective, it does not make any sense not to have good relationships with venezuela and other latin american countries. hadorically, brazil always good relationships with latin american countries. juan: i want to ask about president bolsonaro's family connections to militia groups in fact you have a sitting president who some of his family members have been connected to groups -- for instance, the killing of marielle franco was linked to one of those militia groups. can you talk about that? >>bolsonaro's son flavio bolsonaro, who was a state legislator in rio de janeiro, implied the mother and the daughter of one of the heads of

this militia group that is being accused of killing marielle two suspectso, the who were arrested in connection to the case, one of them is a neighbor of bolsonaro. luxuriousin a very condo in rio. they are both neighbors, although he is a former police officer so how he was able to ,ive in such an expensive condo that is something to be ininvestigated. suspects, his the daughter dated one of bolsonaro 's sons as well. bolsonaro himself appeared in a photo with one of the suspects. he himself and his sons also

have praised members of this militia group in the past. so there are seveveral connectis that need to be -- amy: and why would they want her dead? of thee franco member city council, human rights activist, lgbtq activist who challenged police brutality and one of the world's most notorious police forces? >> she was one of the city council members that was investigating the militia groups. they had a very long investigation, a detailed report accusing the militia group -- this militia group and other groups of severaral crimes. so i think this investigation was probably part of the problem, you know, the reason why people wanted her to be killed. juan: i want to ask about bolsonaro stances on

immigration, something with which he is our lot and, with president trump. ironically come he agreed to lower visa restrictions for americans coming into brazil, making it easier for americans to come to brazil but at the same time he is anti-immigrant. could you talk about that? >> i think that is one of the reasons why we say he gave many things to trump but did not get anything back. interview to fox news, he said -- juan: i think we have a clip. let's play that. on monday, presidentnt bolsonaro appeared on fox news and defendnded president trump's s l to buiuild a wall on the u.s.-mexico border. say w would belieieve those who what they have this against the wall, if they remove walls from their own homes and allow people to come in. the vast majority of the digital immigrants do not intend to do the best or do good to the u.s.

people. juan: so you were saying about his comments? , brazilianimmigrants immigrants coming to the u.s., don't have good intentions. so he is attacking brazilians in this country. you know, he got a lot of criticism for this. it is unthinkable a head of state would criticize its own people in a foreign country and at the same time break the tradition of democracy of reciprocity, meaning now u.s. citizens won't need a visa to go to brazil but that won't be the case for brazilians coming here. amy: i want to talk aboutut olsn son edudurado.ro's i believe he was in the audience

when he was meeting with president trump. let's go to that moment. >> by the way, i see in the audience the son of the president who has beeeen fantastic. would you please stand up? the job you have done, during a very -- during a very tough period of time, is fantasticic. i know your father appreciates it most of the giver much. fantastic job. >> who is he? >> he is the one who builds relationships with stephen bannon, at least as far as we know, for the reports that we have seen. there was a dinner prior to this meeting two days ago in which stephen bannon was present. about the possibility of expanding the far right coalition, tobal

promote the views that they have. it is important to know now that the situation in brazil is so this group that took power because of the political vacuum that was created after the parliamentary coup against dilma in 2016 and the fact former president lula was put in jail -- although, there is the evidence against him, so you create this political vacuum that opened the a far right candidate that is connected to the most extreme paramilitary sectors of the military. the military officers in government are the more moderate forces in power in brazil.

so we have a very extreme situation. juan: i want to ask you about stance onbolsonaro's climate change. brazil was supposed to host a u.n. climate summit and pulled out of that. the impact of that given the importance of brazil in terms of the future of our planet when it comes to planet change? >> that was also a surprise. brazil negotiated being the host of the conference, and then he decided to cancel it. the situation is very dramatic because he said he is going to allow, for example, mining exploration in indigenous lands. he is going to cancel all land rights of indigenous people. also he defends expansion of

mining in the amazon. the minister of agriculture is related to the pesticide lobby. we already are the country that consumes the most amount of pesticides in the world, and they are allowing pesticides that have been prohibited in other countries for many years. and now the latest is that he is also negotiating with trump to allow the u.s.s. to have a spaceship base in -- in the northeast region that is also close to the amazon. it is a very strategic region of the country. in 2002, an agreement was not approved by congress because it would allow military presence of u.s. officers in brazil. the brazilians won't have access

to this space anymore, even to enter the base. so it would be the u.s. taking over parts of brazilian territory in a region where we have hundreds of afro brazilian that have theies same rights to lands as indigenous peoples. it is a struggle for them to have access to land in that region. thinks we wrap up, do you bolsonaro would engage in a military invasion against venezuela to topple maduro? >> i think some sectors of the military in brazil oppose t that and that would be catastrophic consequence if they move into that. so i think it is important to have resistance here in this country, to understand the discourse above is similar to

the discourse about iraq. in the end, it is about lying, misinformation to promote a war that at the end is about oil. amy: maria luisa mendonca, zinke for being with us director , of the network for social justice and human rights in brazil. when we come back, "the torture machine: racism and police violence in chicago." stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: the song became an underground protest anthem in the after it was banned by 1970's brazil's u.s.-backed military dictatorship. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. juan: we spend the rest of the hour in chicago, where the illinois supreme court has let stand and less than seven-year

prison sentence for former police officer jason van dyke, who was found guilty last year of second-degree murder decided tuesday to deny a request by the state's attorney general to re-sentence former police officer jason van dyke. van dyke, who is white, was found guilty on 16 counts of aggravated battery, one count for each of the 16 bullets he fired at mcdonald. illinois attorney general kwame raoul petitioned the state supreme court to vacate van dyke's second degree murder sentence, and instead impose a sesentence on each of the 16 counts.. if the petition had been granted, van dyke could have faced to up 96 years in prison. the news has sparked criticism throughout chicago. chicago's mayoral candidates, who are both african-american women, have spoken out against the decision. lori lightfoot, the front-runner in the race, tweeted -- "today's ruling is the latest disappointment in the jason van dyke sentencing, and a sad reminder of the work we must do

to create a system that is free of institutional racism and truly holds police accountable for their misconduct, including criminal acts. we cannot build trust between police and the communities they serve if officers who commit crimes are not held to the same standards as other defendants." lightfoot and her opponent, cook county board president toni preckwinkle, both have vowed to reform chicago's police department. van dyke is the first chicago police officer to be sentence for an on-duty shooting a half a century. amy: the decision is the latest in the struggle by activists, lawyers, and journalists to hold the chicago police department accountable for its long history of violence against the city's citizens, particularly african-american men. much of that history is chronicled in a new book by a leleading chicago lawyer fightig police torture. "the torture machine: racism and police violence in chicago," exposes decades of corruption and cover-up in the chicago police department from the murder of black panther leader

fred hampton and mark clark to the reign of torture overseen by commander jon burge. from 1972 to 1991, more than 200 people, most of them african-americans, were tortured with tactics including electric shock and suffocation. we're joined now by the book's author, flint taylor, attorney with people's law office who has represented survivors of police torture in chicago for more than 25 years. flint, welcome back to democracy now! why did you name your bobook "te torture machine"? >> thank you. it is a pleasure to be back with you. i named it "the torture machine. relateddifferent but reasons. first of all, on the cover, the torture machine, that was electric shock box, the notorious commander jon burge and his men used on many african-american suspects o over that 20-year period that you just mentioned. but also the torture machine refers to chicago's m machine, e

notorious political machine, often known as the daily machine, and the democratic machine here in the city, which also only covered it up, but was i involved at the h highest lelevels of ththe police depepat anand, yes, the statate's attors office when richard m daley was the states attorney of cook countyty were involved inn thiss conspiracy, the scandal that has gone on for so many decades in thisis city. juan: flint, first, i want to congratulate you on the book. it is a riveting account come almost a forensic analysis of decades of collusion between judges, politicians, prosecutors, and the police to basically engaged in systemic human rights violations. but you start the book with an incident that for many young

-- it might be part of history, but not often covered history. you make the statement that the killing of fred hampton and mark clark really was a seminal moment in the development of chicago in the modern history of chicago. i'm wonderering if y you could t give us a sense of what you believe that is so and then we're going to do a clip of a the housey about where fred hampton was killed. on december 4, 1969, 14 chicago polilice officers workig under the control of the states attorney of cook county come at that time edward hanrahan, rated a westside apartment where black panthers were sleeping. and one of those black panthers was the chairman of the black

panther party, fred hampton, charismatic young leader who was targeted not only by the police, but by, it turns out, thehe f f. and that raid, which was covered up, was claimed to be a first issued out, was later shown to be a total shoot-in some and then over the e years, as we and others were able to litigate a case in federal court, we were able to show not only that this attacack ons, racist the panthers and its leadership where twowo men were killlled ad many o others wounded, but i its part in paparcelf ththe fbi's p program, , a counterintelligence program devised and implemented by j edgar hoover over the years, which in the late 1960's, targeted the blackck panther pay -- specifically, fred hampton in chicago. in fact, that the raid on the apartment was p part of this con

tel program. juan: you make a point in your book that was the beginning of the resistance, mass resistance of the black community that eventually led to the election of harold washington as the first black mirror chicago. i want to turn to the clip of " the weather underground." this clilip begins with fred hampton. syriza they can do they want to does. [indiscernible] two blackicago today, panthers were killed as police raided a p panther strononghold. polilice arrrrived a fred hamp's westside apartment at 4:45 this morning. that a search warrant authorizing them to look for

illegal weapons. the state's attorney's open said hampton and another man were killed in a 15 minute gunbattle which followed. >> they murdered him while he lay in bed. evidenence they murdered ourur deputyty chairman in cold blblos he e elne but aslsleep. >> they organized force of the apartment they were in when they were murdered. i want with the group of people national office, which is a couple of blocks away. >> [indiscernible] the scene of carnrnage. itit was a scene of war.r. riven withs door bullets, not little bullet holes,s, but shattered. >> mark clark was murdered. >> you w walk from the living rm into the bedroom and there's a mattress soaked in his blood, red blood down the floor.

>> anyone who w went through tht apartment and examinine the evidence that was s remaining there could come t to only one conclusion, that is that fred hampton, 21 years old andnd a membmber of a militant, well-knn militant group come e a was murdered in hiss bed, probably s he lay asleep.p. >> this blatant act of legitimatize murder strips a all credibibility from m law enforcement. suggeststs the official policiy of systematic repression. juan: that was from the documentary "the weather underground." flint, the reality was, as you document in your book, this was assassinationect and that the result longshore go on your partt because you were

there, you were able to get to the house the very day that hampton was killed. could you talk about this conspiracy to kill one of the rising radical leaders of the black community? now -- and ite was uncovered during our trial in the 1970's -- that the cointel program targeted black liberation organizations and leaders. they specifically named targets dr. king, stokely carmichael, elisha mohammed, and pointed to malcolm x as well. asas the panthers rose andnd bee powerful first an open and later in chicago, as you can see from the clip what a charismatic and leader at 21 fred hampton was, hoover and his people focused on the black panther party --

specifically in chicago, on fred hampton. they had an informant in the black panther party by the name of william o'neill. he sketched out a floor plan that showed where hampton would be sleeping. they went to the apartment. they supplied that floor plan to the police. the e fbi did. they wenento the apapartment in the e early m morning hours. fred w was asleep. it appeared he had been druguggd by own meaeal or some other age, and he was murdered in his b be. ovover the yeaears, we uoverered documents thth showed ththis flr plan that was all covered up as well. it s showed the fbi took credit for this raid as part of its go until program and showed even , after ththe raid, was given by hoovever and the people in chicago, a a $300 bon. what we later cacalled the 30 piececes of silver for the informant own neil for setting up the raid. he wasas receiving from hooverea

bonus for the success of the raid at the same time he was serving as a pallbearer and fred hampton's funeral. amy: you pursue this case civilly for 13 years. what came out of it? >> a lot of what i've j just mentioned cacame out o of it. the narrative shifted over the years thanks to the community, thanks to the panthers, and thanks to the lawsuit that we filed. ,s you could hear from the clip the position that the police took -- and they thought they were going to get away with scot-free -- was this wasas issd out, these were vicious black panthers come all of that. well, because we and the panthers went to that apartment, we were able to show it was a shoot-in. we were able to change the narrative to the fact it was an unjustified and violent shoot-in by the police. it over the years, as we were able to join the fbi in the

case, we were able to uncover these fbi documents that show, yes, it was not just a murder, it was not just a shoot-in, but a political assassination straight from washington and the fbi. juan: flint, shortly after the murder of fred hampton, you got involved in another case of the wilson brothers, which began the uncovering of the jon burge scandal that again would take you decades, really, to finally get some measure of justice. could you talk about the wilson case? wilson case arose in february 1982. two what police officers were shot and killed. the two black perpetrators had escaped. the city of chicago, under jane byrne and police superintendent breeze that, set out on the most

vicious and terroristic manhunt in the history of the city. they terrorized the black community. they kicked in doors, drag people out of their houses if they thought they had some information about the killings, theyey torture thehem. they torture them with suffocation. they tortured them with all kinds of medieval types of tortrture. they finally found the two people, the eyewitness identified, as the persons who were involved in the crime. and the person who was identified as the shooter was andrew wilson. andrew wilson was taken back to police headquarters on the south side of chicago. in this notorious commander, at that time was a lieutenant in charge of the manhunt by the name of jon burge, led a torture of andrew wilson that included electric shock with the torture

machine that is mentioned in depicted in my book, andnd suffocation with a bag. they handcuffed him across s an old steam radiator and electric shock to him so he was burned across his chest. they also burned him with cigarettes, beat him, and got a confession from him. this came out of that time, but nobody really careded. the state's attorney at cook county richard daley was informed specifically by a doctor and the police superintendent about this torture, and he chose to doo nothing about it. because he did nothing about it, burge was able to, and the next 10 years, torture another 75 individuals -- all african-american men. , andrewars after that wilson, who had been sentenced to death, filed a complaint in federal court challengiging his

torture and suing burge. that is how we got involved. during his trial, an anonymous police source, who we later e, started top badg give me information that laid out exactly the map of what had happened, the systemic nature of the torture, the fact that daley and his surrogates were involved, that the police superintendent, the mayor were involved. we followed that map, basically, for the next 20, 30 years even as we sit here today, to uncover evidence that supported the idea that this was a systememic torture, this was something that sent people to death row, this was something that convicted innocent people. ultimately, all of this led to burge's firing.

it led to many, many years later, his conviction for obstruction of justice for lying about the torture. of course, it led to the remarkable reparations that the city of chicago granted to the survivors of police torture and their families here a couple of years ago. amy: flintnt taylor, we're going to go to break and come back to this conversation. we will also be joined by lilia fernandez. flint taylor, attorney with people's law office, has represented survivors of police torture in chicago for nearly half a century. his new book is "the torture machine: racism and police violence in chicago." when we come back, lilia fernandez will join us as well as to stay with us. ♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with juan gonzalez. to continue to look at a long history of police brutality in chicago, and out turning to often overlooked and underreported issue, police

abuse of latinos. latinos and especicially immigrants have faced violence and even killings for dececades and have a long history of fighting back against brutality through committed ororganizing n activist's other violent policing of latinos has received little news coverage. amy: we're joined now by historian who has chronicled the police mistreatment of latinos in chicago. lilia fernandez is a professor in the department of latino and caribbean studies and the department of history at rutgers university. she is author of "brown in the windy city: mexicans and puerto ricans in postwar chicago." she also happens to be married to our cohost juan. .till with us, flint taylor his new book is "the torture machine: racism and police violence in chicago." professor fernandez, it is great to have you with us. can you talk about how the torture machine, dealing with racism and police violence in chicago, the significance of it and the work you have done

highlighting the brutality against the latino community in chicago -- in chicago, so often seen police brutality as a black and white issue? >> thank you so much. first, let me start by commending flint taylor for this really incredible account of against theighting brutality of of jon burge torture machine and trying to seek justice, particularly from any men -- for many men who are wrongfully convicted on the basis of the confessions extracted by torture. one of the things that a lot of people don't realize i think because police are bruce -- abuse gets framed in a black and white racial framing, is the fact that latinos were frequently the victims of police

misconduct, abuse, brutality throughout these same years that flint covers. , i wasack to the 1960's actually very surprised when i started to uncover c cases of different puerto rican and mexican american men who are having violent encounters with police officers. in fact, for example, the division street riots, which not many people know of, which happppened in the summer of 196, were set off by a white police officer who had shot a young puerto rican man. was the community learned of this, people started pouring into the streets. and they did so not because this was a unique event, but because people were fed up, as in the case with many other urban riots in the 1960's. people were fed up with the

repeated mistreatment and abuse and brutality they experienced at the hands of local law enforcement. juan: i think one of the points you make -- i would like flight to comment on this -- police corruption and police abuse often go hand-in-hand. in the chicago police department had a notorious reputation for corruptionli. book,u mention in the between 1972 and 1982, there were five separate mass arrests of police for corruption, including at one point more than 50 cops that were arrested and indicted for corruption. flint, this whole issue of the culture of corruption within urban police to permits, especially those who are focused on largely minority communities? and i want to say at the same time that we were dealing with the fred hampton case, there was the murder of the police murder

of manuel ramos and the city of chicago, that the young lords and others stepped forward to protest very strongly in 1969. is saying is certainly true and what she's written about is very important. the corruption of the chicago police department goes all the way back to haymarket. it goes all the way back to the summerdale scandal in the market 10.arquette it does go hand-in-hand with brutality and violence. they have been able to get away with it. it is been part of the culture alonong with the code of f lenc, along with the systemic racism that is so prevalent in the chicago police department. so when you have not only the department and the higher-ups being involved in it, but yet the prosecutors who look the

other way and who are involved in it. that ultimately, you have the judiciary. you have the judges. and yet the judges who are documented in my block who were formerer prosecutors who give passes to police officers, most recently in the laquan mcdonald case, the formrmer prosecutor, e judge i knew from taking the torture confession of a 13-year-old and a case of mine, she acquitted the three officers who covered up the laquan mcdonald video and lied about it. juan: and the issue of one of the cases you mentioned did not happen in chicago but a nearby suburb, the orlando cruz case. >> the orlando cruz case is not one i researched myself, but i remember being contacted by his attorney, whose name i'm forgetting right now, but she was representing him in the

early 1990's when they were trying to get his conviction overturned. of killing accused -- raping and brutally murdering a 10-year-old girl, he and two other codefendants. he was convicted, sent to prison, spent 10 years and prison. collegeer -- i was in at the time, and his attorney reached out to me and asked if i could help bring an exhibit of rolando cruz artwork to harvard university. and i did. i had no idea at the time the significance of the case am a that it was not just an individual isolated incident them up but in fact there was of police pattern abuse, particularly with african-americans and latinos -- not only in the city, but the whole metropolitan area.

aboutan you talk ,lilia, not only what is happening with police in the bettina community, but also dealing with undocumented immigrants and border patrol and ice? >> right. i i think one of the thingngs tt activists are starting to realize is they are making the connection between police abuse and law enforcement retell it against african-americans -- brutality against ,frican-americans in the larger you know, immigration enforcement apparatus that has similarly committed all kinds of acts of brutality and violence historically. in the 1970's, there was a hugee case t that got very little meda attention by galvanized the mexican-american community, much like the murder of manuel ramos in may of 1969, galvanized the

puerto rican community, but in 1972 in november, that was the shooting and eventually the death of an undocumented immigrant. raiaid inrs conducted a a neighborhood that was increasingly mexican at that time, and they shot him as they were pursuing him. the community came out in significant numbers, marched down to the federal building to stateest this, to protest sanctioned violence against wererants, against latinos generally. the fact police and other law enforcement agents were doing this with impunity. amy: we're going to end the broadcast but we're going to do part two of this discussion with lilia fernandez, professor at rutgers, author of "brown in the windy city: mexicans and puerto ricans in postwar chicago." attorney withor,

people's law office and author of "the torture machine: racism and police violence in chicago." democracy now! is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. e-mail your comments to outreach@democracynow.org or mail them to democracy now! p.o. box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now!]